


It Must Be Something

by LinkishImp (kanna37)



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28821765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanna37/pseuds/LinkishImp
Summary: Just a short little fic about Link getting teased by his fellow knights on his betrothal to the princess; though it starts out light it ends on a more somber note.  Set in the Age of Calamity universe, and ties into the other one-shots I've done for Age of Calamity.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Kudos: 34





	It Must Be Something

**Author's Note:**

> This is linked to my other fics in this Age of Calamity universe; they are, in order from first to last: The Light in His Eyes, Too Much Praise, and For Her Sake. There will be more to come, as well.

**It Must be Something**

**~oOo~**

Link froze for a few seconds at the sly voice that welcomed him as he made his way to his bedroll – he'd just completed his stint on guard – and sighed in resignation. He'd known this was coming, but couldn't it have waited until tomorrow? He was exhausted; this had been a couple of days of extremes all around – from the disbelief and sheer shock of the castle's fall, to the high of hope rekindled, and then the greatest thing... his betrothal to the _princess._

And that's what this was all about. The other soldiers – his friends - were _never_ going to let him live it down. He sighed.

“Let's just get this over with for the night, guys, I'm exhausted, and I need to get to sleep – or have you all forgotten what comes on the morrow?” he asked amiably enough, despite his weariness.

There was a general sort of 'snort' sound that came from various bedrolls, making Link smile, just a little.

They were his friends, after all, and he would always stand with his friends, no matter what.

“ _That_ question don't deserve any more of an answer,” came that same sly, _knowing_ voice, one that Link identified easily enough with one of his closer friends, a knight named Angsen, “who in Hyrule could forget? But that's for tomorrow – right now, we got ourselves something _much_ more interesting to talk about than _that,_ don't we?”

That was answered with another sort of generalized sound, though there were some bedrolls that were silent, minding their own business and _sleeping,_ which was all Link wanted to do, too. Lucky them.

Shaking his head, he began setting his gear aside. Let them tease, it wasn't as if he had to respond, or even really be awake, he decided. They could tease all they liked while he slept, because _goddess_ he was _tired_.

Too much had happened in just over forty-eight hours with no real rest, and there was as much yet ahead, he knew it. He needed to sleep as much as possible now, to regain his energy for the devastating fight he still faced. And right now, he hurt more than he'd ever have thought possible. Every muscle in his body was _screaming_ , and if he didn't lay down forthwith, they might decide to take the decision out of his hands and simply go limp, and wherever he landed was just where he was going to lay until they decided to cooperate with his will once again.

“Well?” he prompted mildly as he went about his business. “What's on your mind?”

“What's on my min-?! How can you even ask me that, you sly dog? You've been mooning over the _princess_ all this time! Everyone knew you had your eye on _someone_ despite all your denials, but we didn't think it was _her!_ You really dream big, eh, Link? The knight who would be king. Should I start practicing bowing for you now, so I have time to get used to it?”

“Maybe, you idiot, because with your complete lack of any kind of grace, you'll just end up falling on your face in front of everyone. How entertaining that would be for me, though....” the hero mused, grinning cheerfully now, despite his weariness. “We'd have to order you to attend charm school before allowing you back in our presence – which means _you'd_ be gone for a _very_ long time.”

“Oh-ho-ho,” Angsen crowed in return, “look who's already letting it go to his head, throwing around the royal 'we' so easily. All that humble talk over the years was just a ruse to cover his _real_ ambition – the hand of her highness, the fair Princess Zelda. What a dastardly villian!”

At that, laughter broke out from a good portion of the bedrolls surrounding the hero.

Sure, that described Link, all right. Just dastardly.

Anyway, the young knight in question was now beginning to settle into his bedding, and didn't seem all that interested any longer in the questions and jokes that were being lobbed at him from everywhere at once. (Not that he ever had been, but...)

“Stop bugging me now, and go to sleep. Or I promise you _will_ regret it when you get woken up at the crack of dawn to prepare for battle, and you don't get another chance to sleep for a few _days_.”

“Eh, you're such a spoilsport, Link,” another friend grumbled. _Pietr._ “Dreamin' bout girls, well, that's a normal thing. But dreamin' bout the princess? Just how courageous are you, anyway? I mean, the king might have locked you up for your daring as soon as accept your pursuit of his daughter, and yet you just blithely - and boldly - ask him for her hand! And he _agrees!_ How are you always so damn _lucky?_ If any of the rest of us tried that, we'd never see the light o' day again!”

“I did _not_ ask the king for the princess' hand,” Link sighed, rolling his eyes a little. It seemed that point was such a fine one that no one was picking up on it. “I only asked _him_ for his blessing to approach _her_ on the matter, _and nothing more._ ”

“Whatever,” Angsen waved Link's protestation off. “The end result is still the same, and _that's_ what we're gettin' at.”

“Well, the goddess certainly adores him, she's the one that originally chose him as her Hero, if the fables have any truth to them,” Ol' Stern, an older, grizzled knight, said. “So it's no surprise he's so lucky all the time. But it seems to me he's earned it, anyway,” he added gruffly. “Now let the man alone, Angsen, Pietr, and all you others jus' waitin' for your chance, too. We've a long day ahead. Link's right – another lesson on-the-go for you newbie knights. _Never_ turn down a chance to rest for any reason beyond sheer necessity, or you _won't_ live to regret it.”

That statement earned a lot of grumbling, but it was the truth and they all knew it. That didn't mean Link was off the hook, though, not at all. It just meant that their fun had been _postponed._

“Fine, fine,” Angsen sighed. “But after we win tomorrow, it's open season on you, just so you know. I ain't done razzin' you by a _longshot_.”

Link snorted but didn't offer any further response, and when Angsen finally looked over at him, his eyes were closed and his breathing soft.

He was already asleep.

“It must be somethin', to have such a heavy destiny on your shoulders,” Pietr said quietly a few minutes later. “Even for the hand of the princess, I don't know if I'd have been willing to take it on, if it had turned out to be me.”

“An' that's why it _ain't_ you, or me, or anyone else,” Ol' Stern returned just as quietly, the mood now somber as reality infected the earlier teasing one. “Link ain't exactly like the rest of us, though, and he never has been. No one with that amount of talent as a warrior could be. It's unreal.”

“Unreal?” Pietr asked, a little confused. What was the old timer on about, anyway?

“Yeah, unreal. No normal man could do what he does, is what I'm sayin'. Have you seen him fight a Lynel? We all know how powerful those things are, but Link is able to stop them _at a dead run_ and knock them back to a halt with just _a guard maneuver_. And his archery! If you ask me, he's every bit that cocky rooster Revali's equal in speed _and_ accuracy, and then there's all the other weapons he's already mastered, as young as he is. Have any of _you_ ever seen anyone else who's able to do all the impossible things he does? _I_ sure haven't.”

Stillness reigned then, as everyone thought about that, each soldier wandering from those thoughts into sleep at their own pace, but with similar fears haunting them, one and all.

What _would_ tomorrow really bring? A win, and someday their most _silent knight_ becoming their king?

Or a loss... to die, and dream of ash and ruin forever?


End file.
